The idea of putting your child on a plane alone is always scary. The idea that they might not make it to the right destination is pretty much a parent’s worst nightmare. That’s exactly what happened on Tuesday, however, when a paperwork mix up put two children flying alone on flights to the wrong cities.
The two kids, Kieren Krenshaw and an unnamed Cleavland girl, were on the same flight out of Spokane, Washington. They landed in Minneapolis-St. Paul, and the girl was meant to get on a flight to Cleavland, Kieren, to Boston. Their paperwork had gotten switched, at some point, so they ended up going to the wrong city.
As Kieren, who was clearly delighted with his adventure, put it: “It was just weird. I was like I’m supposed to be at Boston, not Cleveland!”
Delta was, of course, mortified, and moved quickly to rectify the situation. “We apologized to the families, re-accommodated the children to their final destination cities at no cost, arranged full refunds for the children’s tickets, provided credits to the families for future travel, and refunded their unaccompanied minor fees,” airline spokesman Paul Skrbec told Yahoo!.
Skrbec also emphasized that the airline notified the families as soon as they realized the error and that the children were under supervision at all times.
Naturally, we can’t help but agree with Kieren’s grandfather, who was concerned that the airline put kids on a plane without double checking to see if their paperwork matched. If you want to prevent your kids from having similar adventures, make sure that they know how to double check a flight’s destination themselves before you send them on a plane alone. As with any situation in which your child is going to be navigating the world without you, being well prepared and well educated is the best defense.
